


Echoes

by wallashoom



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Big Brother Sans (Undertale), Character Death, Echo Flowers (Undertale), Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Necromancy, One Shot, Papyrus (Undertale) Has Issues, Papyrus (Undertale) Knows More Than He Lets On, Papyrus (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Papyrus (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Sans (Undertale) Has Issues, Sans (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Sans (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Sort Of, Swearing, Undertale Genocide Route, Younger Brother Papyrus (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:53:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28052742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallashoom/pseuds/wallashoom
Summary: During a stroll through Waterfall, Sans notices that the echo flowers don’t seem to be working properly.
Relationships: Papyrus & Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 108





	Echoes

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing Undertale, so this isn't good lmao

It hurt. 

He was expecting it since the human walked out of the Ruins, covered in dust. He knew they’d fight his brother soon. 

It was wishful thinking that the human would stop at Papyrus. Foolish, even.

When he realized this, it was too late. He’d teleported between the trees to kill the human and… well, he saw the exact moment the toy knife hit the skeleton’s neck, effectively decapitating him. 

He remembered standing there, frozen. Even after the human moved on to Waterfall after squashing Papyrus’ skull, Sans refused to move. He didn’t know when he had come out of his hiding spot until he was on his knees in the snow, boney fingers cradling a torn and dusty red scarf. 

His little babybones. 

Dead.

He tried to tell himself it was fine, to not care too much. The human would reset and Papyrus would be fine. He wouldn’t remember any of this.

But goddammit, it hurt so much. 

In hindsight, why did he even try to pretend like it was fine? This was his little brother, who he had taken care of for his entire life, gone. His little brother, who loved to throw bones at the dog family across the street. His little brother, who was always full of innocent and sweet energy. His little brother, who didn’t fucking deserve any of this.

And it was at the hands of some little kid. Some stupid little kid who had everything they could’ve wanted. The monsters were free. Everything was _fine_. 

But no, they just _had_ to see what killing everyone would be like.

It made Sans sick. He could never look at Frisk the same way again.

Eventually, Sans managed to pick himself up. He wrapped the scarf around his own neck, as a little comfort, and put his brother’s costume on his racecar bed back at home. 

“you’ll be okay, paps.” He lifted the covers over the empty suit.

Now he was wandering through Waterfall. It was eerily quiet since the royal scientist evacuated everyone. 

Well, most everyone. Some monsters were stubborn and didn’t want to leave. Others wanted to try their luck and try to defeat the human.

Sans laughed to himself. How stupid. Even if they do manage to somehow beat the human, they’ll just come back and the monster won’t even remember. 

How nice is it that they don’t have to remember?

They’ll never have to remember their loved ones getting killed one by one. 

Lucky bastards.

Sans tugged at the scarf. It was a bit uncomfortable, but it was the only thing that made him feel close to the taller skeleton. 

He hoped he had shaken all the dust out of it. 

Usually the quietness and stillness of Waterfall was calming. Now it was unsettling. The rocks that pretended to be stars used to be pretty. Now they were just mocking. The flowers that echoed previous conversations used to be a bit annoying. Now Sans would do anything to hear something from them. 

He sighed, eyes briefly glancing up at the sparkling rocks. Waterfall was pretty. The prettiest place in the Underground. Well, second prettiest. The throne room was the best thing to look at. 

Sans wished Papyrus could have visited it more. The flowers always made him happy. So did the artificial sunlight. Sans himself had never seen the surface, but he knew Asgore’s throne room was the closest thing to it that monsters had. Any monster who went there was given just the slightest amount of hope. 

The skeleton wondered if it still looked the same despite the not-so-great circumstances. 

Sans blinked, a thought coming to him. Where was the human exactly? He knew they were fighting Undyne, evident by all the short resets that happened when he was still mourning back in Snowdin. 

He stopped and started listening. The stout monster could hear the faintest sounds of a fight.

They weren’t too far away. 

His sockets narrowed, two thoughts debating each other. Should he go help? Or should he stay? It wasn’t like he could do much.

Sans’ head lowered into the scarf, his teeth now obscured. He closed his eyes, seriously considering his options. 

He breathed in, getting a scent of spaghetti. 

…

What would Papyrus want? 

Opening his sockets, he knew what he was going to do. 

Using a shortcut, he teleported to an area near a bridge. Hearing the sound of weapons clashing, he turned around. He saw Undyne, a little… wait, did she look different? What happened…?

He studied the battle. Undyne had just had her turn. He saw the human about to attack, so he threw his arm up to intercept it with a bone. 

It didn’t work. He was too far away. 

The human got a hit in, but it only seemed to hurt the fish woman. 

He quickly checked her stats.

**Undyne The Undying**

**HP 1386/23000**

**99 ATK**

**99 DEF**

**Heroine reformed by her own DETERMINATION to save Earth.**

That’s, uh… well, something happened. 

Sans moved as fast as he could, not wanting to use a shortcut. There was a bit of a climb, but he managed to make it up. Undyne’s stats were still visible to the skeleton. They were the same. 

The moment he turned the corner, finally in range to defend his brother’s best friend, her stats changed.

**HP 0/23000**

Oh.

He was too late.

He hid around the corner, hiding himself in the darkness. His eyelights went out, hiding himself further.

The fish melted into a puddle of nothing and the human turned around, heading in Sans’ direction.

He teleported away.

Away from the scene, the skeleton looked around, realizing he was right where he was before. At the beginning of Waterfall, surrounded by echo flowers.

_Ping!_

***ALPHYS: ANY MONSTERS REMAINING, COME TO MY LAB IN HOTLAND NOW**

Sans stared at the message. 

He lightly sighed, a realization hitting him.

Nothing’s going to stop the human now. Nothing can. Mettaton isn’t equipped enough to defeat them and Asgore isn’t mentally capable enough to go all out. 

They were going to destroy everything. They weren’t going to reset.

He’d never see Papyrus again.

He huffed, a quiet laugh escaping through his teeth. He knew he should probably go to the lab, but he just didn’t feel like it. The human was ahead of him and even if they did cross paths, he could easily take a shortcut to get away. 

Would he want to though? Nothing matters anymore, anyway. It’s all over. 

He closed his eyes, putting a hand to the top of his skull. 

He should’ve enjoyed his year on the surface while he had the chance.

His legs began moving. He had no destination in mind, he just needed to move. 

He only made it ten steps when he heard it.

“-NS?”

Sans stopped, his sockets widening and breath hitching. _‘that sounded like…’_

Hesitantly, he turned his head. 

Only flowers, no skeletons. 

Eyes narrowing, the short monster looked ahead of him, moving again. 

_‘you’re losing it.’_

“SANS?”

Sans gritted his teeth, still moving.

The voice faded behind him and Waterfall eased back into silence. 

He continued, turning a corner. 

More flowers.

“SANS?”

Sans shook his head, ignoring the voice again. 

“SANS?”

_‘keep moving.’_

“SANS?”

_‘it’s not real.’_

“SANS?”

_‘he’s dead.'_

“SANS, MY BROTHER.”

Sans stopped for a moment. _‘least it was different.’_

“HE’S A LAZYBONES.”

This time, Sans didn’t move.

“AND HE WASTES HIS POTENTIAL.”

Sans looked around. Where was the voice…?

“BUT!”

Eyelights scanned the environment. 

“HE WAS ALWAYS THERE WHEN I NEEDED IT.”

_‘except i wasn’t there to save you.’_

“AND HE BASICALLY RAISED ME.”

Memories of reading stories to Papyrus when he was little rushed through Sans’ mind. He used to act out those stories, loving every single bit of it. It always made the everlasting smile on Sans’ face genuine. 

“SO I KNOW HE HAS GREAT POTENTIAL!”

What potential? He was weak. 

“I JUST NEED TO WRANGLE IT OUT OF HIM!”

_‘you can’t do that anymore.’_

“THOUGH SOMETIMES,”

The skeleton retraced his steps towards a couple of flowers, Papyrus’ voice becoming a bit louder. 

“I NOTICE HE’S A LITTLE SAD AND MORE UNMOTIVATED THAN USUAL.”

A laugh threatened to leave Sans. _‘if only you knew.’_

“SO I MAKE IT MY GOAL TO MAKE HIM NOT SAD!”

He got closer to the flowers.

“AND IT WORKS… MOST OF THE TIME!” 

_‘it really does, pap.’_

He wished he could tell Papyrus just how much he actually meant to him. He never expressed that when his brother was still around. He was the coolest. And he meant that. 

It was just a pain to do it every reset.

“DON’T TELL HIM I SAID THIS,”

Who was he talking to?

“BUT I THINK HE’S WAY COOLER AND GREATER THAN ME!”

This time, an actual laugh exited Sans. _'isn’t that the biggest lie?’_

“I’M ALMOST JEALOUS OF HIM!”

Papyrus? Jealous of Sans? Since when?

“HE HAS SO MANY FRIENDS, I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW HE DOES IT!”

Sans felt his eyelights drop at that. Something about Papyrus’ voice didn’t feel right, like it lacked energy.

“EVERYONE IN SNOWDIN KNOWS AND LOVES HIM, YET NO ONE KNOWS OR LOVES THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

That wasn’t true. Sans _knew_ that wasn’t true. The monsters that used to hang around at Grillby’s would occasionally talk about Papyrus, especially the dogs. They loved him. 

Did he not know that…?

No, of course he didn’t. He would’ve mentioned them in his friends list if he knew.

Though, thinking about it...

“BUT THAT’S OKAY!”

There was a tremble to his voice.

“AS LONG AS SANS IS HAPPY, I’M HAPPY!”

_‘but i’m not.’_

He really wanted to figure out where Papyrus’ voice was emitting from. He edged a bit closer to the flowers, the voice becoming a bit louder.

But it couldn’t have been the echo flower, right? Those have been silent since the evacuation started.

“HE CLAIMS THAT HE’S WEAK.”

Another step.

“BUT HE ISN’T!”

Getting louder.

“I KNOW HE ISN’T!”

The skeleton was a foot away from a flower.

“HE HAS TO BE STRONG SINCE HE HAD TO PUT UP WITH ME FOR ALL THOSE YEARS!”

As odd as it was, it had to be from the flower.

…

Wait, what did Papyrus just say?

“I FEEL BAD.”

He kneeled in front of the flower, staring at it silently. 

“HE’S ALWAYS TAKING CARE OF ME, BUT NOT HIMSELF.”

Sans’ hand gently played with the leaves. 

“...I KNOW THOSE… NIGHTMARES HAVE BEEN GETTING TO HIM. WHENEVER I ASK, HE LIES AND SAYS HE’S FINE. I’M WORRIED.”

The smile on Sans’ face slowly faded. He assumed his lying had gotten worse throughout the resets. How else would Papyrus be able to figure it out? He was lazy, just like what Papyrus always said.

“I’M AFRAID OF WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF… IF…” A tone of sadness.

Sans looked to a random patch of grass, sorrow in his expression. 

“...I KNOW WHAT THOSE FEELINGS CAN DO.”

Sans’ eyelights flickered back to the flower, every movement still. 

“HOW THEY CAN DESTROY SOMEONE EMOTIONALLY...”

No. No, Papyrus didn’t feel those things. Papyrus was happy. He was a light. He was the joy that made Sans want to keep going. 

“ESPECIALLY AFTER LIVING THE SAME DAY, OVER AND OVER.”

“...pap?” Sans breathed, panicking for a moment as he was worried that his small whisper would overwrite Papyrus’ words.

“...HE DOESN’T KNOW I KNOW.”

No.

“HE DOESN’T KNOW THAT I EXPERIENCE THE SAME THING.”

_No._

“...BUT HE KNOWS NOW.”

Sans almost missed that. Was Papyrus… planning for Sans to hear this? Did he know? If he knew, why the fuck did he still go against the human when he knew there was a high chance he was going to die?!

“IT’S… DIFFICULT. DIFFICULT PRETENDING THAT YOU DON’T KNOW.”

How could Sans not notice that Papyrus knew?

“DIFFICULT PRETENDING LIKE YOU DON’T KNOW THAT EVERYONE AROUND YOU TREATS YOU LIKE AN INNOCENT AND NAIVE CHILD.”

God, he knew about that too? Sans’ breathing quickened.

“PRETENDING LIKE YOU BELIEVE YOUR BROTHER WHEN HE SAYS THE ONLY FRIEND YOU HAVE IS ON VACATION WHEN SHE’S NOT.”

_‘that was so long ago…’_ Fingers tightened around a leaf, crippling it.

“HAVING TO PRETEND LIKE YOU’RE HAPPY WHEN YOU’RE NOT.”

_‘no no no no no no no no no no-’_

“PRETENDING LIKE YOU DON’T KNOW THAT EVERYONE HATES YOU.”

_‘no one hates you, pap.’_

“EVEN WHEN YOU KNOW YOUR OWN BROTHER HAS BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN TO CARE ABOUT YOU. HE’S BEEN DOING THAT LONG ENOUGH AND HE’S TIRED OF YOU.”

Without thinking, Sans yelled. “NO!” His breath hitched, knowing what he had just done. His outburst would overwrite the last time Sans would get to hear his brother’s voice. 

What a screw up.

“... _fuck_ …” Sans was never one to swear aloud, as it made Papyrus upset. It made him dim. Sans didn’t want to lose that brightness.

But now he’s lost it completely.

“DON’T SWEAR.”

Sans’ head shot up, sockets digging a hole into the blue plant. “...p-pap?” 

It was silent. 

Sans slowly laughed. He was losing his sanity- no, _sansity_! He laughed more. 

Oh, he was losing it. 

“I REMEMBER THERE WAS A TIME ON THE SURFACE,”

This time, Sans would make sure he didn’t say a word.

“WHERE I WATCHED EVERYONE IN THE LIVING ROOM. THEY WERE HAPPY.” A pause. “BUT I WASN’T.”

_‘is he talking about…?’_ There was a time where Papyrus had awkwardly been watching them from the kitchen. He was supposed to be attempting to make lasagna- another pasta he had picked up- but he was just… staring. Toriel was the first to notice but when Sans looked over, he seemed completely okay as he dismissed the encounter. 

If only he paid more attention. 

“I DIDN’T KNOW WHY. SO, LATER, I WENT BACK TO THE UNDERGROUND.”

Eyelights went out. A few days after the staring incident, Papyrus had decided to go on a long walk. That was a normal Papyrus thing to do. But they all had agreed to not return to the Underground.

“AND I ASKED FLOWEY WHY I FELT THAT WAY.”

Sans never did understand how Papyrus managed to befriend that soulless thing. 

Was it even genuine?

“HE TOLD ME IT WAS PROBABLY BECAUSE I FELT LIKE NO ONE NEEDED ME.”

_‘_ i _need you.’_

“AT FIRST I DIDN’T REALLY BELIEVE IT. BUT AS TIME WENT ON, IT BECAME RATHER CLEAR THAT HE WAS RIGHT.”

_‘no he wasn’t, pap.’_

“UNDYNE ONLY BECAME MY FRIEND BECAUSE SHE PITIED ME.”

_‘no she didn’t.’_ He’d seen them cook before. He’d seen them train. That was a genuine friendship. Undyne cared so much about his brother. Why couldn’t Papyrus see that?

“ASGORE’S ONLY NICE BECAUSE HE’S THE KING. ALPHYS IS ONLY NICE BECAUSE OF UNDYNE. TORIEL IS ONLY NICE BECAUSE OF SANS.”

Sans’ breathing was heavy. If this is how he thinks everyone sees him… did he even want to know how he felt about him?

“SANS… HE… HE USED TO CARE. NOW HE DOESN’T. HE HAS OTHER PEOPLE. HE DOESN’T NEED ME. SO… I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO NEED HIM.”

He didn’t want to hear this anymore.

Papyrus being so negative and so down was something Sans never wanted to hear, never wanted to even imagine. It was a balance. One was happy, the other was sad. It wasn’t supposed to be that they were both unhappy. 

“WITHOUT SANS TO NEED ME, NO ONE NEEDS ME.”

_‘so many people need you.’_

“I’M… CONSIDERING WHAT FLOWEY ASKED ME.”

_‘and what was that?’_

“HE ASKED… IF I HAD EVER HURT MYSELF ON PURPOSE.”

_‘no... please don’t say you’ve done it.’_

“I SAID NO. I HADN’T AND I STILL HAVEN’T.”

_‘oh thank god.’_

“BUT THEN HE ASKED IF I’D EVER WANTED TO END IT ALL.”

_‘oh fuck.’_ Sans blinked a few times, feeling tears start to appear. Theoretically, skeletons shouldn’t be able to cry. But he could. And he knew Papyrus could too.

“I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT. IT… IT’D BE AN EASY WAY OUT OF THE RESETS. BUT I DON’T WANT TO HURT SANS… THOUGH I… I DOUBT HE’D CARE.”

_‘i would. i would care so much.’_

“HE HAS SO MANY BETTER PEOPLE TO BE WITH. HE SHOULD… HE SHOULD SPEND TIME WITH THEM. I’M NOT WORTH THAT.”

_‘yes you are.’_ His fingers curled into fists, teeth grinding.

“NO ONE WOULD MISS ME-.”

“ _I_ WOULD MISS YOU!” He didn’t care if it was all overwritten. If the last thing he would hear from Papyrus would be him quite literally rationalizing his own suicide, he didn’t want to hear it.

He breathed, using his jacket sleeve to wipe away any tears that formed.

His hands found their way to his knees, his head down.

He missed his brother.

So, _so_ much.

“HOPEFULLY SANS-”

In an instant, a bone sliced the top of the flower off, rendering the flower silent as it lost it’s glow. 

The air was quiet, save for the distant sound of the water. This allowed Sans to think. 

How did that even happen? Echo flowers only repeat a sentence or two. Not whole rants about how worthless you are. They shouldn’t act like a tape recorder. Not like that.

When did Papyrus even come here? This had to be recent. But when? Papyrus was in Snowdin. Sans was in Waterfall, at the entrance. He didn’t fall asleep so he would’ve seen-

“HOPEFULLY SANS WON’T BE MAD OVER IT.”

Sans stood, head swerving.

What the fuck was happening?

“IF I DO IT, THAT IS.”

Sans backed up, listening for the words.

“IF I DON’T DO IT THOUGH…”

The shorter skeleton locked onto another flower.

“I’LL JUST BE IN THE WAY.”

Narrowing his eyes, his arm rose up, attack ready.

“I’M A BUR-”

A bone shot up from the ground, breaking that flower too. The voice died along with it.

_‘died….’_ Even now his mind is making jokes. Gotta cope somehow.

“I’M A BURDEN.”

Sans turned around, seeing multiple flowers. “should’ve brought a better weed killer.”

Walking forward, he snapped his fingers, bones impaling another plant.

“NO ONE-”

Break.

“MAYBE I’LL-”

Break.

“A KNIFE-”

Break.

“CAN I-”

Break.

“CAN I PLEASE-”

Break.

“STOP-”

Break.

“STOP IT!”

Break.

“SANS!”

Break.

“YOU JERK-!”

Break.

He reached the end of the room. Heaving a sigh, he turned on his heel. Before him were many decapitated flowers, Papyrus’ voice no longer emitting from them.

The skeleton’s eyelights went out, a dark laugh coming out through his teeth. 

_‘hilarious.’_

He rubbed at his skull, just above where a human nose would be. 

What to do now?

He looked to his left, seeing a path that went further into the wet city. _‘might as well.’_

“YOU’RE REALLY MEAN, YOU KNOW THAT?”

Sans blinked. 

What?

“YOU DIDN’T LET ME FINISH MY COOL STORY!”

Lights dimming, his head lowered. “...paps?”

“YEAH?”

Sans shook his head. “no, no, stop. you’re hearing things, sans.”

“YOU ARE NOT.” A brief pause. “WELL, YOU’RE HEARING ME BUT YOU’RE NOT GOING INSANE!”

Hesitating, Sans took a step forward. “...pap, if… if you _are_ there… where, bro? where are you?”

“UH... THE FLOWER OVER BY THE WALL!”

“th-they’re all by the wall.”

“I KNOW.”

Moving warily, Sans stepped closer to the broken flower to his right. 

“HELLO!”

Sans stared down at the blue plant. “...no.”

“HUH?”

“no, this… this is impossible. you can’t be speakin’ to me, you’re… you’re dead!” It hurt to say.

“HM…” Sans swore the flower glowed. “I GUESS IT IS A BIT WEIRD, ISN’T IT? SORRY!”

“i…” Sans looked at all the fallen flowers a few feet away from him. “no, don’t apologize.”

“S-” He cut himself off. “OKAY.”

Sans kneeled again, his hands pressing together to cup the flower by the petals. “bro, can… what happened?”

“WELL, I CAME ACROSS THE HUMAN JUST AS I WOULD’VE OF IN ANY OTHER RESET!” It was still hard to know that Papyrus knew about every reset, that he suffered through every single one of them. “AND SINCE THEY SEEMED TO BE DOING A BIT MORE WORSE THAN USUAL, I OFFERED THEM A HUG!”

“oh paps, why would you…”

“I THOUGHT IT’D HELP!” The taller skeleton defended. “AND I DID GET ONE! JUST… TO THE NECK. BY A KNIFE. HEH HEH.”

“don’t laugh at that.”

“...SORRY.”

There was another silence.

“YOU’RE WEARING MY SCARF.”

“you can see me?”

“YES I CAN!”

“where are you?”

“RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!”

Sans looked up and squinted, as if that would make it possible to see his brother. Spoiler alert, he couldn’t. Only the rocks that taunted him.

“i can’t see you.”

“BUT YOU CAN TALK TO ME!”

The older monster slowly let his head fall back down to the flower. “guess i can.”

Another pause.

“SANS, WHERE’S FRISK?”

“that’s not frisk.”

“IT’S NOT?”

“can’t be. frisk wouldn’t do… _this_.” Sans gestured aimlessly. 

“HM. YOU’RE RIGHT! FRISK WOULD DO MUCH BETTER THAN WHATEVER THAT HUMAN DID!”

Sans let out a chuckle. His little brother sounded so joyous, even in death. He wondered if it was fake.

“...hey, papyrus?”

“YES?”

“did you… did you mean what you said?”

“I SAID A LOT OF THINGS.”

Sans took a deep breath. “that you considered ending your life?”

Papyrus went silent at that.

“paps?”

More silence.

“pap, please.”

A sigh was heard. “I SUPPOSE, YES.”

“why, paps?”

“WELL…” He seemed unsure. “RESETS DO STUFF TO YOU. IT MESSES WITH YOUR MIND. IT MAKES YOU UNHAPPY. IT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE NOTHING MATTERS.”

Sans never wanted to have this conversation.

“I NEVER CONSIDERED THAT OPTION UNTIL FLOWEY ASKED ME ABOUT IT. HE SEEMED REALLY WORRIED WHEN HE DID. BUT HE SEEMED REALLY RELIEVED WHEN I SAID I HADN’T!”

 _‘damn flower.’_ He really doesn’t seem to like plants, huh?

“A MONTH OR SO BEFORE THE RESET, I… I WAS HEAVILY CONSIDERING IT. BUT BEFORE I COULD GET TO THAT POINT, I WOKE UP IN MY RACECAR BED IN SNOWDIN!”

Sans remembered waking up in his dirty room just a few days ago. He was angry, but he didn’t let Papyrus know. Couldn’t let him know.

“THEN THE HUMAN CAME AND WAS… DIFFERENT. IT WAS A LITTLE EXCITING AT FIRST. THEN IT WASN’T.”

“yeah, ‘cause they killed you.”

“I KNOW! I WAS HOPING THAT THE HUMAN WOULD CHANGE, FOR I BELIEVE IN THEM!”

“believed, you mean.”

“NO, I STILL THINK THAT THEY CAN BE BETTER.” 

That made no sense. “how? paps, they _killed_ you. they killed undyne! they’re gonna kill asgore and then it’s the rest of the world. how can you still believe in that piece of shit?” He wasn’t able to catch himself. “...sorry.”

“IT’S OKAY.” Papyrus quietly replied. “AND I JUST HAVE TO. IF I BELIEVE IN THEM, THEY MIGHT CHANGE. I JUST HAVE TO HAVE FAITH IN THEM. THEY’LL MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE.”

“paps…”

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO BELIEVE THE SAME THINGS I DO, BROTHER.”

He wanted to convince him that he was wrong. But that would just be him snuffing out another light… if that was even possible at this point.

He sighed. “fine.”

Sans could practically hear the happiness resonating off of Papyrus. “GOOD!”

The shorter skeleton pulled at the scarf. He snorted. “y’know paps, this smells like spaghetti.”

“AS IT SHOULD! I SPENT MANY DAYS PERFECTING MY SPAGHETTI!”

Sans was about to cut in with a joke, but Papyrus said something first. “THOUGH THAT’S NOT SAYING MUCH.”

“whaddaya mean?”

“MY COOKING’S BAD.”

“what? no it’s not.”

“DON’T LIE, SANS.”

Sans briefly puffed his cheeks… if that was even possible. “it’s better than undyne’s.”

Papyrus was silent for a moment. “SHE TAKES BIG OFFENSE TO THAT.”

“is she there with you?”

“YES! SHE’S VERY… MAD. SHE WAS MAD BEFORE YOU INSULTED HER COOKING!”

Images of seeing the woman melt flashed through Sans’ mind. “couldn’t imagine why…”

“SHE WANTS ME TO TELL YOU TO KILL THE HUMAN.”

The skeleton’s eyelights dimmed. _‘i just might, actually.’_ Who was he kidding? He couldn’t do shit.

“YOU WOULDN’T… RIGHT?”

It took Sans a moment to answer. “you really think i could?”

“YES, ACTUALLY.”

Oh.

“heh, well, you’ve got nothin’ to worry about bro. i don’t have the _bones_ to even stand up to the kid.”

Silence.

More silence.

“THAT WAS BAD, EVEN FOR YOU.”

Sans let out a dry laugh. “yeah, i know. i’m not really _femurin’_ it today.”

“YOU SHOULD JUST… NOT MAKE PUNS TODAY.”

Sans sighed, slightly defeated. “sure. not like there’s anyone to tell ‘em to anymore.”

“WE’LL SEE THEM AGAIN.”

“in the next reset or when we’re all dead?”

Papyrus didn’t answer that.

“papyrus?”

“...WE’LL SEE THEM ALL AGAIN.”

“pap..”

“EVERYTHING WILL GO BACK TO NORMAL ONE DAY.”

He was too hopeful.

“I KNOW THAT.”

Wait, did he say that out loud?

“BUT HOPING IS WHAT HAS GOTTEN ME THIS FAR.” There was a tiredness to his voice. It sounded unnatural. It didn’t belong. 

_‘hoping, huh?’_

Maybe he should try that. 

“I- WAIT, UNDYNE’S TELLING ME…” 

If Sans really listened, he could hear someone else faintly. 

“OH.”

“what is it?”

“THEY… THEY’VE JUST PASSED THROUGH ALPHYS’ LAB. UNDYNE WANTS TO GO MAKE SURE THEY’RE SAFE… I HOPE SHE DOESN’T SOMEHOW MANAGE TO KILL THEM.”

“papyrus-”

“I CAN’T STOP BELIEVING IN THEM. I’VE TRIED.”

He’s innocent. Why make him remember all this hell?

“...CAN I ADMIT SOMETHING?”

“of course.”

“THERE’S ONLY ONE PERSON IN THE WHOLE WORLD I COULD EVER BRING MYSELF TO HATE.”

_‘please let it be me or just anyone else.’_

“AND THAT PERSON IS MYSELF.”

“papyrus, no.”

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS ISN’T SO GREAT.”

“the great papyrus is the greatest and coolest person to ever exist.”

“...YOU DON’T MEAN THAT.”

“i mean that with all two-hundred and six bones in my body.”

The glow to the flower faded in and out. Sans could sense his brother’s reluctance to believe him. 

“pap, you’re awesome. don’t let anyone, not even yourself, tell you otherwise. monsters do care about you. they ask about you all the time.”

“THEN WHY HAS NO ONE OTHER THAN THE DOGS EVER APPROACHED ME?”

“i-” Honestly, Sans didn’t have an answer. “honestly bro? i don’t know. but there are monsters out there. remember how that kid looked up to you by the time the barrier was broken? there are people out there. there are monsters other than me, undyne, toriel, asgore… the rest of ‘em, that really do care about you.” 

“...IF WE DO COME BACK, PROVE IT TO ME.”

_‘if.’_

Sans placed the petals down into the grass.

“OH, UNDYNE’S BACK… OH.”

“what did the human do?”

“METTATON’S DOWN. THE HUMAN IS ABOUT TO GET TO ASGORE…”

Sans stared blankly, two options immediately coming to his mind. He can stay here with his brother and let the human go through the hall and kill Asgore, or he can teleport to the hall and do his judgement, possibly stopping them.

“SANS?”

“paps… heh, i’m gonna do something i’ll regret…”

“AND WHAT’S THAT?”

Sans stood, his bones popping. He turned to the other broken flowers and sped towards them, scooping up each blue blossom. Turning sharply on his heel, he bounded back to the flower that he spoke to Papyrus through. Kneeling again, he gently placed the flowers in a pile, putting the one originally there on the top.

“SANS?”

“i’m gonna try to fix this.”

He unwrapped the scarf and placed it behind the flower on the pile, almost tucking the top blossom in. 

“stay here.” He ordered. “you’re not gonna wanna watch it.”

“SANS, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO KILL THEM, ARE-”

“i don’t have a choice.” Sans shot. “mercy isn’t going to work. not with that _thing_.” 

“I…” The glow dimmed. “OKAY.”

The monster got up, taking a deep breath. He raised his fingers, ready to take a shortcut.

“SANS?”

“yeah?”

“SEE YOU SOON.”

“...see you soon, papyrus. i love you. i mean it.”

The flower dimmed more.

“I LOVE YOU, TOO.”

Putting his emotions in check, Sans snapped and suddenly he was in the judgement hall, the human right in front of him, arms covered in dust. 

Looks like someone’s about to have a bad time.

**Author's Note:**

> He gon' avenge his brother... or try, at least.  
> this was so bad-


End file.
